The Geo Metro is a blast from the recent past. It was sold in many varieties, including a 2-door convertible! Some came with amenities (LSi), and some were intentionally built without the normal accoutrements (XFi), but fantastic gas mileage (around 50 MPG or more). When I say without the normal accoutrements, I mean no air conditioner or automatic transmission kind of accoutrements (air conditioning being a necessity to me in the Southern states). In general, the Geo Metro got around 40-50 MPG, and this was back in the 90's when times were good as far as gas prices were concerned!

These cars are just the thing if you're out to save the environment. Since they no longer build them, you'll have to buy a used one, which is a huge plus for the environment. They're great on gas mileage, even better than the Smart Cars you see in car dealer's lots right now. However, you may want to consider the safety factor, as Smart Cars rank pretty high. Smart Cars rank high because they sacrifice gas mileage for safety cages. The Geo has none of that, but they were one of the first cars in America to offer dual air bags!

Expect these cars to be in demand in your local Craig's List and on eBay. If you own one, you may get some great trade-in values for it right now! If you don't, expect to see prices of these cars to keep going up. Who knew that the trade-in value for a Geo Metro would go so high?

Once, these cars were anything but cool. Now, however, you can't touch them they're so hot (well, maybe a little exaggeration there.)

You can still pick one up for less than $10,000, but that's still a bit pricey for a used car from the 90's!

Ned Flanders from The Simpsons was known to have owned one.

Here's where I got some of my information on the Geo Metro (Wikipedia).

I was priviledged to drive one of these as a rental car when my truck got some damage, and it was quite the experience. If I'd had gone from a Fiat or a VW Bug, it might have been much less traumatic (I know, I'm spoiled in my big American, er, Japanese, but made in America, truck)! I felt like I was right on the road, and if I pressed the floor boards too hard, my feet would have touched the pavement. Looking up at other trucks (and cars even) gave me a different perspective on life.

There are a number of ways you can increase the gas mileage of your own vehicle. Follow this link to see some tips.